|
World Bank Again Defends Use Of Armenia Water
Real estate news By Ruben Meloyan
Thursday 4, October 2007
The World Bank on Thursday again shrugged off embarrassing allegations about gross misuse of a $30 million loan to Armenia that were first made by an Armenian parliamentary commission in 2004 and have resurfaced in recent weeks. The loan was part of a 1999 World Bank project designed to upgrade the country’s water infrastructure and improve Yerevan residents’ access to drinking water. The Armenian parliament formed in 2003 an ad hoc commission to investigate the effectiveness of these and other large-scale infrastructure projects financed by Western donors.
In its first report made public in March 2004, the commission headed by deputy speaker Vahan Hovannisian concluded that the water scheme has failed to achieve its main objectives to due to mismanagement and corruption among government officials and private firms. The report deplored the fact that 27 percent of the World Bank funds have been spent on project management, overheads and logistics. The World Bank office dismissed the claims at the time, insisting that the project’s implementation has been a success.
The World Bank loan was tied to the Armenian government’s sweeping reform and restructuring of the country’s obsolete water and sewerage network. As part of that reform, hundreds of thousands of Armenian households had to buy and install water meters in their homes. The government had promised that, as a result, virtually all Yerevan residents will have running water 24 hours a day by 2004. It has clearly failed to fulfill the pledge. Veolia Eau, the French utility giant running the Yerevan network, has said that it will need a decade to ensure 24-hour water to the vast majority of local households. The operator argues that as much as 80 percent of drinking waters leaks out of eroding pipes before reaching consumers. The World Bank funds were supposed to significantly reduce the huge losses.
Send tips or a Letter to the Editor to editor@updatere.com
|
